Johnstown now finds themselves 8 points behind 5th place Reading for the final playoff spot in the ECHL North Division and while the Chiefs still hold games in hand that could get them back in the hunt, the sad truth is that with Randy Rowe injured and Stanislav Lascek, Radek Smolenak and PJ Atherton up in Springfield, this Johnstown team is running on fumes and looks like it is going to limp to the finish line of the season. Obviously for the Lightning it is going to be a long offseason as they ponder why a season that started with so much promise for their minor league system went so wrong.

Karri Ramo stopped 38 of 40 shots faced for the win. Norm Milley led the way offensively with a pair of goals, including a shorthanded talley. Veteran Eric Healey had the game winning goal and added an assist. Individual helpers belonged to Radek Smolenak and PJ Atherton. In 4 games since his recall, Atherton has 2 goals, 3 points and, just as importantly, a solid even rating.

Brady Greco suited up but did not play in the game for Springfield. Milley, Ramo and Healey were named the game's three stars. Ramo and the Falcons ended a Providence winning streak which had reached six games.

Morgan Cey stopped 19 of 20 shots faced for the win. Bryan Nathe, Ben Wallace and Gus Katsuras each had 2 assists for the Chiefs. Johnstown's goals came from Zbynek Hrdel (power play), Radek Smolenak, Dimitri Tarabrin and Jean Desrochers (shorthanded). Hrdel extended his point streak now to 3 games after going the previous 10 games without a point. Maxime Boisclair and Stanislav Lascek had individual helpers in the game. Smolenak, Hrdel and Nathe were named the game's three stars.

Springfield, MA â€“ The Springfield Falcons, proud members of the American Hockey League, announced today that left wing Adam Henrich has been recalled from their ECHL affiliate, the Johnstown Chiefs. The Falcons also announced that forward Radek Smolenak and goaltender Gerald Coleman have been reassigned to the Chiefs.

Henrich is back with the Falcons and has played in 11 games with Springfield this season collecting two goals and two assists for four points. In 32 games with the Chiefs this season, Henrich is averaging a point a game collecting 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points, including 12 points in his last six games with Johnstown.

Smolenak played in 30 games for the Chiefs. He had a team-high 12 goals and ranked fourth with 22 points. In two earlier games with Springfield, the 6-foot-3 native of Prague, Czech Republic, didnâ€™t score a point.

Lascek appeared in 26 games with the Falcons, netting two goals and four points. The native of Martin, Slovakia, began the season in Johnstown and was the teamâ€™s leading scorer when he was recalled in November. He had five goals and 15 points in 10 ECHL games.

Note: The newspaper also reports Falcons property Maxime Boisclair participated in the ECHL All-Star Game in Boise, Idaho, on Wednesday and had two assists in the American Conferenceâ€™s 6-3 win over the National Conference at Qwest Arena.

Morgan Cey had to face 70 shots tonight between regulation, overtime and the shootout. 70.

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Morgan Cey stopped 59 of 62 shots faced in overtime and regulation before allowing 2 of 8 penalty shot chances to take the shootout loss. Have mercy. Andre Deveaux led the Falcons with 2 goals and 1 assist while Radek Smolenak had 1 goal and 2 assists. Adam Henrich, Geoff Waugh and PJ Atherton had individual assists. Gwinnett tallied the tying goal on the power play with under 2 minutes to go in regulation to force overtime. Naturally, Gwinnett, being the organization and county in Georgia with the utmost of humility and class (that's sarcasm) did not give a single star in the game to a Johnstown player even though Deveaux and Smolenak had the game high in points and Cey stopped 59 shots. Considering the media pool for Gwinnett includes a certain massive Thrashers homer/online editor for HF, I'm not surprised.

Some good news from the night: Gerald Coleman is on the bus for this swing through the south and was in uniform as Cey's backup.

Through 6 games in Johnstown this season Smolenak has 2 goals and 6 points with 6 penalty minutes and a -4 rating. A 3rd round pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Smolenak was rated the 9th best prospect in the organization in Bolt Prospects' Preliminary Rankings for 2006-2007. Boutin expectedly returns to the Falcons after going 0-2-0 in the last week with a 3.07 GAA and .919 save percentage. Waugh, who just recently cleared up work visa issues which had plagued him after strong showings at Lightning and Chiefs camps, was even in 2 games played with the Chiefs with 2 penalty minutes.

Just couldn't get over the top in a one goal game.
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[url=gerald-coleman]Gerald Coleman[/url] stopped 27 of 31 shots faced for the loss before Trenton scored an empty net goal with 17 seconds remaining to seal the Chiefs' fate. The Johnstown attack was lead by Maxime Boisclair's pair of helpers, his first professional points. [url=andre-deveaux]Andre Deveaux[/url], [url=zbynek-hrdel]Zbynek Hrdel[/url] and Doug Andress had Johnstown's goals with individual helpers going to [url=radek-smolenak]Radek Smolenak[/url], [url=stanislav-lascek]Stanislav Lascek[/url] and Jean Desrochers.
Game sheet from [url=http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=926]ECHL.com[/url].

Tonight is the season opener for a Johnstown team that has had an almost complete identity overhaul in the offseason. Gone are former GM Toby O'Brien as well as many of the familiar ECHL veterans who used to make up the team. In their place the Lightning have set up a new management team and a revamped roster that includes much more youth, skill and speed. Coach Frank Anzalone is the constant, and the veteran coach will go for his 300th ECHL win tonight. Stanislav Lascek and Radek Smolenak should form a potent offensive attack for the Chiefs and they are expected to get strong goaltending from Gerald Coleman and Morgan Cey, but it's the progress of the team's defensemen that may decide how much it can improve over last season's short playoff run.
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Congratulations to Coach Anzalone on his 300th ECHL win.
[url=morgan-cey]Morgan Cey[/url] stopped 31 of 33 for the win. Veteran Jean Desrochers had a first period natural hat trick to set the pace for the Chiefs. Doug Andress had a goal and two assists while [url=zbynek-hrdel]Zbynek Hrdel[/url] racked up three assists. Doug Adams had two assists and Radek Smolenak added his first professional goal while individual helpers went to [url=pj-atherton]PJ Atherton[/url], [url=stanislav-lascek]Stanislav Lascek[/url] and Brandon Elliot.
And that's just game one.
Game sheet from [url=http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=918]ECHL.com[/url].